Outcomes Frequently Specified in Cochrane Reviews of Community-based Psychosocial Interventions for Adults with Severe Mental Illness: A Systematic Search and Narrative Synthesis

Abstract Background: Outcome selection in intervention studies is a critical issue for synthesising evidence. This study is aimed to investigate outcomes used in Cochrane reviews assessing community-based psychosocial interventions for adults with severe mental illness. Methods: Cochrane reviews that evaluated a community-based psychosocial intervention for adults with severe mental illness were searched electronically and manually. We extracted all outcomes specified in the Methods section in each Cochrane review. Outcomes that represent the same concept and context were synthesised into an outcome term. Outcome terms were categorised according to the existing taxonomy. Results: We included 31 Cochrane reviews. Of the 214 outcome terms identified, 13 were used in more than half of the reviews: quality of life, mental state, economic outcome, admission to hospital, leaving the study early, social functioning, satisfaction, global state, relapse, adverse events/effects, carer satisfaction, employment, duration of admission. Most outcome terms were categorised into the life impact core area (57%), followed by the resource use area (21%). Conclusions: Our study provides a candidate outcome list for developing a core outcome set for severe mental illness and offers a basis for comparison for future outcome investigation on mental health research.